Jay

Perfectly chilled out pal. Likewise mate! Where you staying?

As I said in the other thread, we should be planning for this game with the intention of getting back into the tie. It might be a hugely difficult task and to now qualify is admittedly extremely unlikely, but an early goal for Motherwell and anything could happen. I remember the chat amongst Motherwell fans before "Skippy Sunday" was all about what would happen after the game when Celtic went to parade their trophy because no one even considered us winning. When I went to leave Fir Park after Hibs scored to make it 6-2 and only stayed because Giles Coke made it 6-3 while I was in the bog, I never for a moment thought we'd draw 6-6. When I was marching to the Parc des Princes with about 25,000 Scotland fans in Paris, I never for a second believed we'd get even a draw against the French, never mind a victory. These things happen in football, it's why we love the game. I'm an optimist but I recognise the tie is almost completely out of reach - but come Wednesday (after a few too many pints in Athens) I'll be going to the stadium in the hope that an early Motherwell goal can pave the way for us to at least have a slight chance of forcing extra time. Even if that's out of the question, a draw or even a one goal win is still something we should be aiming for. I couldn't care less what the score is, if we nick a goal in a Champions League match I'll be going fucking tonto. After paying hundreds of pounds to be there, I'd be furious if we decided just to play damage limitation or use it as a "pre-Europa League" preparation friendly.

Start a new thread for this Europa League pish. I'll give it a swatch once we're actually out of the Champions League.

Spot on.

Got ours earlier today. How many are we actually expecting to travel? Early estimates seemed to be about 1,000 - are we due more briefs if the 800 sell out?

Can't help but give this an airing again...

Some folk simply have to moan about things and/or abuse our own players. The reasons why remain to be discovered - it could just be a deep rooted need to whinge, or maybe having a weekly target to abuse takes the edge off life. It's one of the world's mysteries.

Higdon will retain the title for no apparent reason. Could see Ramsden being a candidate too, despite playing well last night. Murphy and Humphrey will get moaned at, but I don't think it'll reach "boo boy" levels. I still hold out hope we might sign McFadden for a few weeks, purely so that the same folk might be too busy furiously masturbating in the stands to abuse our own players. On a related note, I'm looking forward to the home game against Ross County to see if I'm right in expecting Marc Fitzpatrick to get less abuse while playing for the opposition than he did during his previous appearances at Fir Park.

Omonoia Square sounds like it's the place to be after dark to be fair. With regards to the Wee Dram though, I'll just wait and see what pubs are decent over there. I'd assume Syntagma Square and it's surrounding boozers will be the main meeting place for 'Well fans on match day (Omonoia Square for post-match!). If I want to go to a Scottish pub, I'll go to the Park Bar in Glasgow on Saturday night rather than waiting til I've flown to Athens on the Sunday. It's the one thing I can never quite understand when folk go abroad - fork out hundreds of quid to get to another country, and hit up the Scottish, Irish and English pubs when you get there...

By all means encourage him maybe to open a wee bit earlier, but I wouldn't have him making big plans for about a dozen folk turning up. We'll be leaving it to the day of the game and see where's good. I wouldn't be expecting many fans to be committing to a venue before even leaving the country.

Folk who thought he was man of the match presumably.

Throwing stuff onto the pitch is a bit stupid, I think that's a given. I'd assume all Motherwell fans were aware of how it could result in a fine, not to mention a summer of us not having a clue what to expect financially at Fir Park. The bigger disappointment was more stuff being thrown onto the park immediately after the tannoy announcement. I'm happy not to make a big deal about a few folk getting caught up in the game and the atmosphere and throwing rolled up paper without thinking before then, but to do it in response to the club pleading for you to stop is fucking ridiculous. But it's done. The display itself was great. At the time, there seemed to be enough empty seats in the East Stand that I feared it would be a bit of an anti-climax, but looking at the photos it worked brilliantly. A big well done to those who put in the time and effort. So aye, display was great, throwing stuff at players after being asked not to was pathetic. Doesn't detract from the absolutely tremendous job that's been done with the atmosphere at 'Well games both at home and away and I'm thoroughly looking forward to more of the same this season.

Seats being damaged is just beyond belief.

We play a balanced game similar to last night.We look to keep it tight at the back but try and attack quickly and in numbers. My line-up would be the same as last night. I understand the chances of us overturning a 2-0 deficit with the 2nd leg away from home are incredibly slim, but I'd be furious paying money to get to Athens to see us use it as preparation for the Europa League match. Nick an early goal and anything can happen.

Great day, good atmosphere, good performance. 3-0 AET next week.

Sitting watching some 'Well DVDs before heading for the pre-match pints the back of 1. First beer will be scranned within the next hour I think - it's either that or the beta blockers!

I've spent most of the day watching 'Well related YouTube videos, scoping out places in Athens, and generally just buzzing like fuck. Playing 7s at 9pm - I've got so much excited energy, I'll be running about like a maniac for an hour!

Good point. Those things were fucking horrific and completely destroyed any hint of an atmosphere.

I notice on their forum that they're talking about this post I made! Think they were wondering why I was laughing... If any Panathinaikos fans are reading, it's because I find it amusing that even the Greeks know that Rangers are bastards. Anyway, on a side note, it also shows that - although they're not getting involved in the chat - they're still reading the forum!

Most Motherwell fans will be in the 10 Euro section.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to indulge in the "aw, I''ve spent money getting there, I'll just spend even more money than I actually have to for a ticket" chat. 10 Euros Motherwell Army.

To be fair, I'd expect far more people to see the posters than to see it on the official site. And there's no way it'll be a full house. I don't foresee a problem here. If you arrive at the ground to find a big bit of coloured paper on every seat including your own and don't know to hold up the thing then you shouldn't be allowed out the house. As for the timing, once those that know when to do it hold them up, everyone else will follow suit.

Been having a wee look on the Panathinaikos "Green Web" forum (albeit using Google translator)! There doesn't seem to be much chat about us as a team so I assume they all expect a cooshty wee journey into the next round. This is really the only post actually about Motherwell, and is from (what appears to be) a Greek Celtic & Panathinaikos fan living in Glasgow:

Even if we get utterly horsed 5-1 on Tuesday, please let us open the scoring. In recent years I can pinpoint a few goals I've went absolutely fucking tonto in celebration for (far more than others) - Fitzpatrick against Hearts springs instantly to mind for instance, and obviously there's a few for Scotland too such as Faddy in Paris or Caldwell in the home France game. However, opening the scoring against Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier at Fir Park could quite possibly be the end of me. Safe to say the excitement, anticipation and "what if's..." are well underway in my mind...

Never a truer word said.